Judge overturns Westfield Twp., Kratzer out-of-court settlement

A judge on Thursday threw out a lame-duck lawsuit settlement between ousted Westfield Township trustees and a commercial developer, ruling newly elected trustees have the right to rescind the deal.

“Since the new board has withdrawn their consent to the proposed agreement, the settlement agreement is no longer valid or before the court for consideration,” Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher J. Collier ruled.

The proposed out-of-court settlement would have allowed Timothy and Linda Kratzer to develop 105 acres along Greenwich Road, which now is zoned primarily for rural homes. It also would have awarded the Kratzers $15,000 in damages.

The township’s attorney, Alfred Schrader, celebrated the ruling.

“I’m elated,” Schrader said. “That’s exactly what we hoped would be the result.”

Schrader had argued in court earlier Thursday that trustees William Thombs and Michael Schmidt had the right to rescind the agreement because they were elected in November to replace Gary Harris and Ronald Oiler, who settled the lawsuit with the Kratzers just days before their terms expired at the end of December.

“The newly elected board was the one who’d have to enforce and live with the settlement,” Schrader told the judge. “You don’t want to have an outgoing board impose its will on an incoming board.”

The Krazters’ attorney, Todd Hunt, argued the settlement should be accepted by the court, even though Thombs and Schmidt took office Jan. 1.

“The newly elected township trustees cannot renege, repudiate or go back on the agreement,” he said.

Hunt did not return a call for comment after the judge’s ruling.

Collier also ruled Thursday that the Kratzers’ complaint will continue as two lawsuits: one appealing a July decision by the township Board of Zoning Appeals and the other challenging the constitutionality of the township’s zoning laws.

The decision by the zoning board followed a November 2011 referendum in which voters overturned an earlier approval for rezoning by the trustees.

Both new trustees had a hand in denying the Kratzers’ attempts to develop their property. Thombs led the referendum petition drive and Schmidt chaired the zoning board that rejected the variance.

The Kratzers sued in August, arguing the township violated their right to develop the property, at 5669 Greenwich Road, southeast of the interchange of interstates 71 and 76, west of Chippewa Creek.